Prospect Hall (Frederick, Maryland)

Prospect Hall
Location 889 Butterfly Lane, Frederick, Maryland
Coordinates 39°18′51.36″N 77°26′15.06″W / 39.3142667°N 77.4375167°W / 39.3142667; -77.4375167Coordinates: 39°18′51.36″N 77°26′15.06″W / 39.3142667°N 77.4375167°W / 39.3142667; -77.4375167
Area 2.3 acres (0.93 ha)
Built 1800 (1800)
Architectural style Federal
NRHP Reference # 80001810[1]
Added to NRHP September 8, 1980

Prospect Hall is a historic mansion, built beginning around 1787 on what was known at the time as "Red Hill", the highest elevation in the area of Frederick, Maryland.

A major Frederick County landowner and colonial civic leader, Daniel Dulaney, built the original home on the property, which is southwest of the city of Frederick, although the current mansion known as Prospect Hall was probably not completed until 1810. This white, three story structure, designed in a Greek revival style with additional Federal elements, has hosted visitors from Presidents George Washington to Harry Truman. It was originally located on the Jefferson Pike, which led from Jefferson Street southwest out of Frederick to the town of Jefferson, Maryland, but after reconstruction and rerouting of local roads in the 1970s was situated on the adjacent facing Butterfly Lane and Himes Avenue.[2]

The mansion was the site of General George G. Meade's takeover of command of the Army of the Potomac of the Union Army from General Joseph Hooker immediately before the Battle of Gettysburg, under last-minute orders from President Abraham Lincoln. Hooker had been defeated by General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Chancellorsville, in Virginia, a few weeks earlier. A messenger had been sent out from Washington with the new orders but the courier had difficulty finding the command headquarters in the night. A large rectangular carved granite boulder from the Gettysburg battlefield engraved with details of the historical event was placed on the northeast corner of the property near the entrance driveway. The site is listed on the "Maryland Civil War Trails" program with internet website, illustrated site plaque marker and listed on an accompanying printed brochure.

During the middle 20th Century, the historic mansion was owned and occupied by U.S. Representative Himes. It was later the site and campus of Saint John's Literary Institution (now known as Saint John's Catholic Prep) from 1958-1959 until January 2013. St. John's had been founded in 1828-1829 in eastern downtown Frederick, on Second Street, in buildings from 1829 to 1925 and rebuilt in that year until the late 1950s, when the move to Prospect Hall occurred and the Second Street location was turned over to the lower grades of St. John's Elementary School.[3] The site is currently under development, and thirteen apartment buildings will be built on the property.[4]

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.[1]

Notes

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ Paula Stoner (December 1978). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Prospect Hall" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved 2016-01-01.
  3. ↑ "Prospect Hall". Journey Through Hallowed Ground. The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership. 2008-10-03.
  4. ↑ "Residences at Prospect Hall".


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/25/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.